New Orleans TV stations WWL, WGNO brace for changes, possible layoffs as parent companies merge – nola.com

Local New Orleans television stations WWL Louisiana and WGNO-TV are bracing for changes, and potentially layoffs, as a result of the merger of broadcast giants Nexstar and TEGNA, which own the two local stations as well as hundreds of others across the U.S.

Though a federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the two companies from combining their operations, the Federal Communications Commission has approved the $6.2 billion deal that was first announced last summer. 

And despite the legal roadblock, employees at WWL and WGNO who were not authorized to discuss the merger publicly said planning is underway for the combination.

In a town hall meeting on March 26 with all of the employees of the combining companies, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said layoffs are coming as Nexstar looks to become more efficient “given all the competitive pressures that are out there,” according to a recording of the meeting.

“There will be some job reductions as we get deeper into the integration process and eliminate redundant positions,” Sook said. “I fully understand how that message lands … Unfortunately, it is unavoidable if we are to survive, let alone succeed.”

Sook did not discuss New Orleans or any other individual markets. He also didn’t say whether the job cuts would target on-air talent, which is associated with individual stations brands, or back-office employees. But close watchers of the industry say both are likely.

“I suspect when TEGNA and Nexstar converge — and they will eventually converge — they will have some consolidation of reporters and even assignment editors,” said Al Tompkins, a retired broadcast executive and senior faculty member at the Poynter Institute, who now teaches journalism courses at Syracuse University. “They probably will not share anchors because those are the outward faces of a station.”

Station managers at WWL and WGNO did not return calls seeking comment. 

Nexstar and TEGNA officials have not discussed specific plans for New Orleans. 

Economies of scale

The merger, approved by the FCC on March 19, will give Dallas-based Nexstar, already the largest owner of TV stations in the country, a total of 228 stations in 44 states, enabling it to reach 80% of U.S. TV households.

It comes as local TV stations have seen revenues fall as viewers increasingly get their news and entertainment from other sources.

The average number of viewers tuned into ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates for the evening news declined from more than 4 million in 2016 to just over 3 million in 2022, according to the Pew Research Center.

By merging, local broadcasters are able to reduce their expenses while expanding their reach. 

“Local stations today need more muscle to negotiate with the networks and also with the cable companies,” Tompkins said. “They also need economies of scale for everything from their business offices to sales to commercial placement.”

A decades-long run

WWL-TV’s legacy and standing in the local community over its 69-year history mean that any change in ownership draws attention, even beyond what any merger may mean nationally, according to Dominic Massa, executive vice president and Chief Operating Officer at WYES-TV and a former executive producer at WWL who has written books on New Orleans television and radio history. 

The station signed on in 1957 from its studios at 1024 N. Rampart St. on the edge of the French Quarter, and for much of that history, it was locally owned — first by Loyola University and then by its employees.

“As a result, for some 40 years, it was the dominant local station with newscasts that were the highest-ranked in the country,” Massa said.

Those ratings have slipped in recent years amid broader shakeups in the market, including changes in the size of the New Orleans market overall. In the 1990s, the station was in the top 40 markets in the U.S. based on population. In 2025, it had fallen to No. 50. 

WGNO signed on as an independent station that aired movies and classic sitcoms until the early 1990s, when it launched its newsroom and became an ABC affiliate. 

While it is unclear what the merger will mean to the station’s newscasts and on-air talent, Nexstar officials have said that they plan to consolidate office and broadcast space in markets where they own more than one station.

According to court documents, Nexstar’s CFO discussed “facilities consolidation” during a recent call with investors, saying that “where TEGNA owns their station and Nexstar owns its station, we can move these groups together and execute on the sale of one of the properties.”

WWL’s studios are located in the French Quarter, taking take up much of a full city block bounded by N. Rampart, St. Phillip, Burgundy and Ursulines streets. Though it has sold off some of the houses on the block that once served as offices and makeshift recording studios in recent years, the station is still a significant asset on some of the most valuable property in the city.

WGNO is located in leased office space in the Galleria, the class A high rise near the intersection of Causeway Boulevard and Interstate 10 in Metairie. An employee with WGNO who was not authorized to speak publicly said Nexstar representatives toured the Metairie studio earlier this year, before the deal was finalized, to assess needs for office and studio space and to take measurements.

What now?

Nexstar, which got its start owning small radio stations in the early 2000s, owned 200 stations across the country before the merger. In addition to WGNO, the local ABC affiliate, and WNOL, it owns WGMB and WVLA in Baton Rouge, and KLFY in Lafayette as well as stations in Alexandria, Monroe and Shreveport.

TEGNA owned WWL and its low-power sister station, WUPL-TV before the merger. Under the terms of the deal, it is required to sell WUPL.

The merger was challenged earlier this month by DirecTV, which argued the deal violates federal antitrust laws. U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley of the Eastern District of California agreed and ordered the companies to pause their integration for 14 days.

A hearing to determine next steps is scheduled for April 8. Separately, nine states attorneys general have also sued to block the deal in a California state court.

While the challenges and Nunley’s ruling complicate the merger, Tompkins said it is unlikely to derail the deal, given the Trump administration’s support for it and the uphill battle that local TV news stations face for viewers and advertisers amid greater consolidation and competition.

“From an economic, journalistic and public service perspective, I have concerns,” he said. “But I doubt it will fall apart, despite the challenges. It’s not 1960, where you have three local stations.”

In his town hall meeting last week with employees, Sook said he does not expect the court challenges to stop the deal, which he has characterized as critical to the future of both stations.

“I am reminded of that saying …. if you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less,” he said. “We must adapt and evolve or we will fail.”